Amid reports of products from spice makers, MDH and Everest, facing ban in a few countries over alleged pesticide contamination, there has been a surge in rejection of exports from Mahashian Di Hatti (MDH) Pvt Ltd by the US customs over salmonella contamination, the Indian Express reported.
The customs authorities in the United States refused 31 percent of all spice-related shipments exported by MDH in the last six months, the report said. The refusal rate since October 2023 has doubled from 15 percent for all shipments sent in 2022, it added.
Hong Kong suspended sales of three MDH spice blends and an Everest spice mix for fish curries. Singapore ordered a recall of the Everest spice mix for containing high levels of ethylene oxide, which is unfit for human consumption and a cancer risk with long term exposure.
In its January 2022 inspection of MDH’s manufacturing plant, the FDA noted that the “plant did not have adequate sanitary facilities and accommodations”.
Overall, between FY21 and FY23, the US rejected roughly 10 percent of all food shipments in the “spices, flavours, and salts” category, second only to “miscellaneous food-related items”, which accounted for 31 percent of all refusals. “Snack food items” and “bakery products” recorded a refusal rate of 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively, the Indian Express reported quoting US FDA data.
A 2022 study by the US Department of Agriculture found that between 2002 and 2019, India had the most pathogen-related violations with 5,115 food import refusals out of over 22,000 pathogen and toxin violations that were identified.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is gathering information on MDH and Everest products, according to a Reuters report.
The two most popular spice brands in India are also under the scanner of Spices Board. The industry regulator in the country started inspecting the facilities of spice makers MDH and Everest for compliance with quality standards after the reports of cancer-causing pesticides in their certain products surfaced.
The board has sought data on MDH and Everest exports from relevant authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore and was working with the companies to find the "root cause" of the issue.
Food safety regulator FSSAI has also started taking samples of spices in powder form of all brands given quality concerns flagged by Singapore and Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, MDH rejected the allegations of its products containing a cancer-causing pesticide and said the claims are “baseless, untrue and lack any substantiating evidence”. “Additionally, MDH has not received any communication from regulatory authorities of Singapore or Hong Kong. This reinforces the fact that the allegations against MDH are baseless, unsubstantiated, and not backed by any concrete evidence,” the spice maker said in a statement on April 27.